Charging your electric car when you’re away from home is about to get a lot easier.
The government is set to announce new plans to install potentially hundreds of thousands of electric car charging points across the country as part of the government’s Road to Zero strategy to cut down on air pollution.
The charging points would be installed in on-street parking areas and on UK roads.
The plan, being unveiled by transport secretary Chris Grayling, is to make it easier to recharge electric vehicles than refuel petrol or diesel models. In addition to new charging points there are also plans to start installing charging points in new homes and businesses as standard.
The government is also expected to outline more details of its ban on sales of new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040. Alternatively-fuelled vehicles, such as hybrids and pure electrics, held just 5.5% of the UK’s new car market in the first six months of the year, compared with 4.2% during the same period in 2017.
Launching the government’s plans to boost take-up of the technology, Mr Grayling will say: “The Road to Zero Strategy, combined with the measures we’ve already introduced, will mean Britain now has one of the most comprehensive support packages for zero-emission vehicles in the world.
“We want the UK to become the best country in the world in which to develop and manufacture zero-emission vehicles.
“The prize is not just a cleaner and healthier environment but a UK economy fit for the future and the chance to win a substantial slice of a market estimated to be worth up to £7.6 trillion by 2050.”
A study for motoring research charity the RAC Foundation has found that growth in electric car use could be stalled by limitations in the public charging network. The mass market appeal of ultra-green vehicles may be restricted without widespread, reliable and easy-to-use charging points, the report warned.
Also, separate AA research shows that eight out of 10 drivers see the lack of charging points as a stumbling block for them to buy an electric vehicle. The motoring firm’s president Edmund King said: “A big push on a range of slow, fast and rapid charging points should help overcome this hurdle.”
“The challenge is then for manufacturers to make a car worth buying.
“These Road to Vision Zero proposals are a step in the right direction but there is still much to do to wean drivers off petrol and diesel cars.”
To find out more about what else you can do to reduce your air pollution footprint, check out our handy guide.